In addition to conventional snare drums, tom-toms, bass drums and tympani, percussion instruments include a conventional group of noisemakers, many of which are derived from folk instruments of many cultures around the world. In addition to cymbals from the Far East, there are castanets and tambourines from Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, there are maracas from Latin America, and there are several varieties of hollow wood blocks to produce "clopping" noises.
Hissing, buzzing and zipping noises customarily require the expense of a snare drum and wire brushes, or at least a back-country American corrugated washboard. Inexpensive and easily operated, multiple-clapping noisemakers have not been available prior to the present invention.